Last Kiss
by Ronnie K
Summary: Superman/WonderWoman light ship fic. A volatile meteor hurtles toward Earth and Superman goes to save the day by himself as the Justice League watches. Wonder Woman is not pleased. All four chapters are now posted.
1. Chapter 1

Seven sets of eyes gaze into the skies looking for any sign of the object. Only one of those sets could see it clearly. High above the atmosphere, circling the planet, it's orbit coming a little closer after every ten or so revolutions. At least, that's what Superman saw. The others saw a speck moving way high above them if they could see anything at all. They didn't need to see it to know the danger. They had already been briefed. Now it was time to formulate a plan, but so far even Earth's mightiest heroes were drawing a blank.

"What have you got, Oracle?" Batman had already heard Superman's report on the big rock up there and he trusted Clark as he trusted almost no one else on earth. It wasn't a matter of trust, though, it was a matter of information. And he needed more.

"It's not good. That rock is the size of New Hampshire. As Superman said, it's got hydrogen in it, which by itself isn't bad. The bad part is that it's laced with uranium and plutonium. It's a nature's own hydrogen bomb. If it blows–" Her voice started to shake, and it took a moment to regain her composure. "–if it blows, whatever the explosion doesn't destroy (which won't be much), the radioactivity will take care of the rest. Another piece of bad news: It's highly unstable. Anything could set it off."

Batman and the rest of the Justice League mulled this over. "Any analysis on the best way to neutralize this?" What frustrated Batman and the rest of the League was that this was, at it's simplest, just a big rock in the sky that they had to get rid of. After facing alien invasions, how could this be so difficult?

"Negative. Computers have no suggestions. Neither do I. Oh, I almost forgot. I picked up some Russian communications. They're making plans to fire a missile to try to blow it up."

"You almost forgot that?"

"I'm under a bit of stress here, Batman. Don't push it."

Superman was feeling a bit of stress himself. "We don't have time for the chatter, you two. We need someone in Moscow, now. Flash, how's your Russian?"

"Same as my Cantonese, Superman. Non-existent."

"Wonder Woman, go with Flash. You know what to do."

"But–"

"No buts. Go with Flash. I need Batman here to help formulate a plan."

She nodded, glaring at him, knowing he was lying. He already had an idea and he knew she wouldn't like it. "Lying" was be too strong a word, but he was definitely trying to get her away from here. Then she did something that even surprised her. She walked up to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him until he began to kiss her back. The rest of the League watched her do it, and she didn't care. The hell with them. Finally she pulled her head back a few inches.

"You be careful, Clark. Don't do anything foolish."

"I'll be fine, Diana."

"Promise?"

He couldn't look her in the eye. "I'll be fine. Get going. We don't want the Ruskies blowing up the planet by mistake." The bad attempt at humor didn't elicit a laugh, but he did elicit a smile before she pulled away and turned to face the Batman.

"Don't let him do anything, stupid, Bruce." It wasn't a casual comment, but a warning.

"Diana, I'm not his–"

"Bruce, for once in your life, shut up and do what you're told." Without waiting for a response she turned and took off with Flash.

A look passed between the two men, but nothing was said. Nothing had to be. They knew what came next and it wouldn't be pleasant for any of them.

"Lantern, can you contain it?" Batman was going through the options, but only out of habit. He already knew how this would play out. He only hoped that Wonder Woman would forgive him for it. Someday.

"Umm, no, I can't. It's too big. I can put something around it, but it won't be strong enough to contain the explosion. This one's too big for me." He hung his head in shame. Ashamed that he couldn't help and feeling as if he was letting his team-mates down.

Superman put an arm around him. "Don't worry, son. I know how you can help." Aquaman and J'onn leaned in to listen. They knew that they couldn't do much of anything either, but they were a team, dammit.

"Here's what we do. It's rather simple, really." That lifted everyone's confidence. Superman could inspire even in the worst circumstances. He wasn't super just because he was stronger than everyone else. He was a confidant leader who effortlessly exuded his confidence to all those around him. He could inspire without even trying.

"I fly up and carefully move that piece of space debris out of our solar system, let it go, and detonate if from a distance with a blast of heat vision. Like I said, simple."

Turns out nobody liked the plan.. Even Batman was reluctant, even though he already knew there was no other way. It was just too big and too close. The problem was that even touching it was risking the thing blowing up and killing everyone on the planet or at least an awful lot of people. They also knew that doing nothing would yield the same results. They were the Justice League. They had try something.

"You said there was something I could do, Superman. What is it?" The voice of the man in the green and black suit was determined. Earth's current Green Lantern, Kyle Raynor, rarely came across a problem that he and his ring could not solve. Superman's example had turned his shame into resolve.

"Well, Kyle, I need you to make a shield behind me. Send it up as high as you can and make it as big as you can. Just in case this thing blows before I get it out of the solar system. You won't stop everything, but you can slow most of the debris down."

"I can do that. Sure." Relief colored Green Lantern's voice. Not only did he detest problems he was unable to solve, he didn't like disappointing Superman, and this was something that he could definitely do to help out.

Batman held out his hand to his friend. "Good luck, Clark."

Superman raised an eyebrow as he grasped his friend's hand. "The odds are that bad, Bruce?"

Batman merely grunted as he walked off muttering. Whether to Oracle or just to himself it was difficult to tell.

—–

As he took off into the sky, his last idle thoughts were of Diana. He wondered if all Amazons could kiss like that. He seriously doubted it. Damn, he could still taste her lips. If that wasn't motivation enough for him to survive this, then there wasn't enough motivation on the planet.

He had already scanned the rock from a distance before he gathered the League together to discuss their options, but he was surprised again at the thing's sheer size as he floated next to it. It'll take more than a minimal effort to move it; and he had to move very carefully so as not to set it off. Gently, he put a hand out to touch it. No explosion. That was a good start. Laying both hands on it gently, he pushed at it carefully and began the journey away from the earth. He didn't want to throw it into the sun. With as much energy as the rock contained, nobody could tell what the effects would be if it went off there. He couldn't take a chance. Tens of miles. Hundreds of miles. So far, so goo–

The whole western hemisphere could see the explosion. A lingering flash of light and then it was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The Russians took some convincing not to start firing missiles at the meteor. Their first instinct was to meet a threat with force. And so, Diana didn't go to the leaders first. She went to their scientists. When they understood exactly what the object was composed of, she brought the scientists, who were scared out of their wits by this time, to the leaders and let them convince the ruling class. Sometimes diplomacy was faster when dealing with what used to be the USSR. Fortunately, Flash didn't know any of the language, so he couldn't make an ass out of himself and slow the whole process down.

By the time they returned from their mission, Diana could barely make out the form of Superman flying off into space. Alone, as she feared. She could still feel his lips on hers. It was an illusion, of course, a trick of the mind. But it was a comforting one. He'd better come back from this. She might wish to repeat the experience—in private. Enough of that, she chided herself silently. Back to business. She needed to chat with a certain team-mate for a moment.

Upon landing, she turned to Batman, and without a word, grabbed his throat in one hand and lifted him off his feet. Pointing into the sky with her other hand at the now invisible form of Superman she demanded through gritted teeth. "Explain."

The Dark Knight wasn't ruffled. He had expected this. Well, he hadn't counted on the ferocity, but he knew she would be irritated. Of course, he couldn't answer with a hand around his throat, so he just held her eye and waited. Diana would either realize that what she was doing wasn't going to get the results she wanted—or he was going to pass out. Either way, there was nothing for him to do but wait.

She dropped him after finally realizing he couldn't talk with her hand wrapped around his throat. Batman landed gracefully, of course, and adjusted his costume and tried to clear his sore throat before answering.

"Wonder Woman, you know as well as the rest of us that there was no other way. He was the only one among us that could have any chance of doing it and surviving."

"But alone? This was the best plan that the damned 'Greatest Detective' could come up with?" She spat in disgust.

"This coming from the woman who betrayed the whole team so she could go off to fight alone against a dragon? A dragon that technically killed you, by the way. If Clark hadn't resusitated–"

"I don't need you to throw that in my face, Bruce. That was different."

"So, how was that different than this? Just because it's him doing it instead of you?"

To that, she only had a hard stare for an answer. Never in her life had she wanted to strike something, or someone, as much as she did right then. It took a few calming breaths to fight the urge down.

"Diana, it doesn't do him any good for you to get overly emotional right now."

"At least some of us have emotions, Bruce."

It was his turn to stare. "He's my friend too, Diana."

He tried a different tack. "Clark has withstood huge explosions before. You know that.

"Oracle, this is Diana. What's the estimated explosive force of that rock?"

"Hang on a sec. I'll run it through the computers." They could hear Oracle typing furiously. The fast clicking of the keys sounded like a gentle rain on a tin roof.

Batman came as close as he could to a prayer. For once in your life, Barbara, lie. And make it convincing.

"Got it. The force would be approximately 52 kilotons of TNT."

Batman winced inwardly. If they survived this, he would have a little discussion with Barbara about the necessity of telling the occasional little white lie.

"Translate that to something we can understand, Oracle."

"Umm, well, that would be about…" She hesitated, not wanting to say, but she didn't want to lie either. Her life was data and data didn't lie or deceive, but she was human too and she disliked causing her friends pain.

"Spit it out, please."

Reluctantly, she answered, "About two and a half times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in WWII, and that would be just the concussive force. If you factor in the radioact–"

"That's enough Oracle."

Diana turned away from Bruce and the rest of them and walked away to be by herself. No one followed. She hugged herself as she silently looked up into the sky where Lantern had created a huge green shield just in case—in case that unstable rock in the heavens blew up before Clark could get it far enough away. The shield was only there to make Lantern feel better, she knew. What were the odds that the explosion would send its debris to this exact area on the earth? Clark just wanted him to feel that he was helping. Of course, one of the first objects that would hit that garish green shield would be Clark's body. She shivered. What could she do to help him?

Diana dropped to her knees and prayed to every god she knew. She knew a lot of them, so it would take some time. She didn't even get half way through her pantheon of gods though before she heard the explosion from far away. She looked up to see the the light from the explosion. Like the fourth of July fireworks she'd seen, just on a more massive scale. It must have been that brightness that brought her eyes to tears.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

While the rest of the team was absorbed in the spectacle of light, The Batman was on his communicator.

"Oracle, where is he?"

"Instruments show a humanoid shaped object heading back here at an incredible speed. I assume that's him."

"Any signs of life?" Diana turned to stare at Bruce as he asked.

"He's going too fast to take a reading."

"Where's he going to land, Oracle, and when?" He had almost asked her when "the body" was going to land. Conscious of Diana staring at him, he changed the question. He also had to fight to keep a neutral expression. Diana was too good at reading facial expressions and body language. He tried to tell himself that none of that was important right now.

"Believe it or not, about a mile offshore from Atlantic City. Right off the boardwalk. Estimated impact in four minutes, thirty seconds. You better find a way to slow him down, Bruce. When he hits, he's going to hit hard."

Wonder Woman swallowed her fears and began giving orders. It's what she does.  
"Let's go everyone. You heard Oracle, we haven't got much time. She will give us the exact coordinates as we move. Bruce, if you've got something in that belt to help, now's the time."

Batman pulled a transmitter from his belt. "No, nothing like that, but I'll need a ride. The Batplane will be here soon. You need to go. I'll catch up."

Diana turned to go, but Bruce grabbed her arm. "He's invulnerable, Diana. He'll be fine."

Her eyes were more worried than confident, but she nodded once before she turned to go.

Flying as fast as she could, she tried to put everything out of her mind except for the task at hand. Unfortunately, her mind worked so fast on a plan of action, she found that she had time to think about other things.

One minute, thirty five seconds later. The Boardwalk. Atlantic City. Wonder Woman relays the plan.

"Batman, as soon as you get here, use that speaker system of yours to warn the people on the boardwalk to evacuate. They won't be able to in time, but at least they can get moving towards safer ground. We don't have the time to evacuate them ourselves."

Diana knew that Clark would not approve of that. He would always think about other's safety before his own, but dammit, he wasn't here. Besides, she was fairly certain that the League could dampen any effects from his landing.

"Kyle, listen up. I need you to modify that shield into something soft that might slow him down a little. Whatever you put up will most like shatter as he goes through. When that happens, I need you to immediately put up a stiffer shield behind him in case some of the rocks from the explosion follow him down. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Aquaman– Where did he go?"

The Martian Manhunter filled her in. "He's in the water already, telling the sea life to clear the area of impact."

"Good. Flash, what can you do?"

"I can create a cushion of air just above the ocean. It will help slow him down further." She nodded and he dashed off.

No wisecracks from Wally. He must be worried. Not surprising since he looked up to Clark so much. Looked up to him as a hero, just like regular humans looked at him. They all did, to some extent. A hero to the heroes. Now, that would make Clark uncomfortable.

"J'onn, you're with me. When he lands, we need to pull him out of the water immediately. Arthur can help too."

She spotted the Batplane in the distance and she could hear his warnings sent down to those still on the boardwalk. "Bruce, tell us when you get a visual–"

"Diana, I know what to do. I'll mark the spot on the surface when he hits." Probably wasn't necessary, but it was really all he could do at this point.

There was another minute before they could expect a visual. At the speed he was traveling, they should hear a sonic boom too. She desperately wanted to go up there and grab him to slow him down, but that would be pointless. According to Oracle, he was going too fast. Her time was best spent waiting to retrieve him.

She saw Superman at the same time Batman alerted them. The boom followed close behind. As he came into focus, she could see he was unconscious and in bad shape. He was moving so fast that all she could see was a blue blur, but she could tell that his uniform was in tatters and his cape was gone. That was all she could make out before his inert form hit shoulders first against some kind of greenish pillow in the sky. She was worried enough that she didn't make note of the childish apparition. She was too busy hoping that it would have some effect. It wasn't an apparition long before Clark's body crashed through it, barely slowing down, but slowing a little. The barrier disintegrated into millions of green bits.

A force-field became visible immediately, while Kyle concentrated on the few rocks that did follow in Superman's trajectory. The shield was strong enough for them, even if just barely. They hit the shield and exploded into dust. It was fortunate that there were only a few.

Diana and J'onn flew towards the projected landing zone. They watched as Flash ran atop the water in a circle, faster and faster. A funnel of water rose quickly about the surface. That should slow him down even more, with the added benefit of softening his landing. As fast as he was falling, hitting the surface of the ocean would have been like hitting a steel wall. Hitting that funnel would be no soft landing either, but it was the best they could do.

Superman fell through the tower of water that the Flash had erected and slammed into the ocean's surface. Diana winced as he did. The resultant splash was so large that it knocked her and J'onn back a hundred yards. The Flash, being closer, was flung almost a mile out to sea. He recovered quickly and was on land again in seconds. Batman barely avoided the water as he veered off to land.

Diana and J'onn recovered immediately and dove into the water not far from where Clark hit the water. They hoped in vain that they could catch him during his descent, but the splash had ruined their timing.

She was close enough to see that he had hit so hard that he went straight to the bottom and into the sea floor itself. He had landed head first and only his legs were sticking up out of the sandy floor. It would have been comical if she wasn't so panicked.

Arthur was underwater and already heading toward the body—towards Clark, she corrected herself.  
By this time she was frantic and she was there ahead of both J'onn and Arthur. By the time the Atlantean King and the Martian Manhunter got there, she had gently dislodged Superman and was bringing him up to the surface.

After what felt like hours to Diana, she had him on the shore and was checking for signs of life. No pulse. He wasn't breathing. Her heart sank, but she refused to give up.

She recalled having fought the dragon Karfang, when she too had been flung lifeless into an ocean. He hadn't given up on her until he revived her. She would not give up on him. She cleared the water from her eyes as the rest of the league gathered around the still form of their comrade, knowing that all they could do was watch and hope.

She had him on his back with his head turned to the side as she pressed on his chest as hard as she could. Still, nothing. Again and again. Nothing. She steeled herself against panic, but she began to beat against his chest harder. The rest of the team could only watch in sadness Wonder Woman tried to bring back the dead, tears streaming down her face as she worked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Breathe, dammit, breath. She could barely move his chest with her pounding. Turning his head up again, she began mouth-to-mouth. There were those odd moments during a crisis when time seemed to almost stand still. Diana was unaware of the five others around her. She couldn't even see him, as she held his nose closed and tried desperately to breathe life back into him.

Her mind went back to when she kissed him in front of the others. It was impetuous. Rash. She was so glad now that she had done it. It was hard to understand why they hadn't done it before– or more often. If that was their last kiss—No! Concentrate on the task at hand. She would not give up.

Trying to breathe into Superman's lungs was like trying to blow up a steel tank. She could barely get a rise, but it was something. One breath, two—did she hear something?

She pulled back and turned his head, just as he expelled what seemed to be a gallon of sea water. She gently wiped off his lips with her hand, then picked him up enough to cradle his head in her lap. Thank Hera he was going to make it. She raised her head, eyes closed, and silently thanked every god she could think of.

He took in a deep breath and coughed. His eyes sprang open to see Diana's smiling face looking down on him. He smiled back.

"We were worried about you. We thought you had left us."

He swiveled his head around without leaving her lap. "We?"

Diana looked around to see that the other Leaguers had gone, presumably to check for any damage that might have occurred and to see if anyone was injured. Right now, she didn't care where they went. She was just glad they were gone.

He reached up and brushed her wet hair aside so he could see her more clearly. "Tears, Diana? I thought Amazons didn't cry."

"We don't—" She stopped herself and started again. "Who told you that nonsense? We are a race of warrior women, not warrior machines." She smiled at him. "Besides, it's just sea water." Then she winked at him. Diana winked at him?

He shook his head to clear it, then despite how comfortable he found himself at the moment, he needed to get up. "I need to see what I can do to help."

With a finger on his forehead, Diana pushed him back down without effort. "Oh no you don't! If I can push you down that easily, then you are too weak to help anyone. You are going back to your apartment and rest."

"Diana, really, I'm fine. Honest." She reluctantly let him get up and laughed as his shaky knees almost betrayed him.

"What's so funny?"

"You are. The rest of the team has the situation well in hand. They don't need your help." She patted her lap. "Lay back down here for a moment."

He did as she ordered, and not as reluctantly as he would have thought. His gait was that of an old man, hunched over and shuffling until he managed to lay down again with his head back in her lap. She had to stifle another laugh.

He closed his eyes as she slowly massaged his temples.

"Remember those times when you carried me somewhere or another when we had to go someplace really fast? Well, you're too weak to fly, so now I get to carry you for once. I'm quite looking forward to it."

Not long after letting the team know her plan to take care of Clark, they were airborne. As she rose above the clouds, she cradled him in her arms and he put an arm around her neck. To make himself more comfortable, he told himself. He felt a little strange at first, but soon began to enjoy the trip. Diana was grinning from ear to ear watching him adjust to his new role as passenger. She had no intention of flying very fast, either. She was going to take her time and enjoy this new arrangement too. It gave them a chance to talk as well.

"So, what's the last thing you remember before the explosion? Oh, and I'm very angry at you, too."

He reddened slightly before replying "Last thing I remember is when you kissed me. And why are you angry with me?"

She smiled slyly. "I'm glad that it was memorable enough that even a massive explosion wasn't enough to jar it from your memory."

To her surprise, he managed to redden even further.

"About my anger…What was the last thing I told you before I left?"

"umm, I don't remember. That was one helluva kiss."

"And you're one helluva lousy liar, Clark.", but she laughed as she said it. In a exaggeratedly stern tone, she added, "We'll discuss that later."

"Later?"

A wicked smile crossed her lips as she hugged him closer so she could whisper in his ear, "Oh, didn't I tell you? Since you can't follow simple orders and rest as you should, I'm going to be staying with you to nurse you back to health."

She'd never seen his face so red before, but at least he was smiling. And that gleam in his eyes was something she wanted to explore further. In private. She began to fly faster towards Metropolis.


End file.
